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Good dental hygiene is your best way of fighting oral disease. If you’d like to improve your dental hygiene regime, here are 5 good habits to pick up:

Brush twice a day: when you brush your teeth, you remove bacteria and food debris from your mouth, and this helps to prevent the formation of plaque. Plaque is the most significant cause of decay ad gum disease. For the best results, you should brush twice a day, every day.

Set a timer: you may think that you’re doing a good job when it comes to brushing, but have you ever stopped to check that you’re brushing for long enough? Setting a timer is a great way of making sure that you brush for the recommended 2-minute period every time.

Floss: flossing is really important because it cleans the parts of your mouth that you can’t reach with a brush. When you floss, you can dislodge debris and bacteria from the tiny cracks between your teeth, reducing the risk of plaque formation.

Use fluoride toothpaste: fluoride is a mineral, which has benefits for your oral health because it helps to protect your enamel.

Swap your toothbrush: if you’ve been using the same toothbrush for as long as you can remember, it’s time to invest in a new brush or brush head if you have an electric toothbrush. Ideally, you should swap your brush every 3-4 months.

If you’re keen to brush up on dental hygiene, we’re here to help, so don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need advice or brushing or flossing tips.

If you’re keen to steer clear of decay and keep gum disease at bay, a good oral hygiene routine is a must. If you’re not sure if you’re doing enough at home, here are 5 top tips to improve your daily regime:

Brush twice a day, every day: do you ever have days when you can’t be bothered to brush your teeth and all you want to do is fall into bed? If so, try and find the energy to stay up 2 minutes longer and your teeth and gums will thank you forever. It’s really important to brush your teeth twice a day, every day. It only takes 2 minutes to make a massive difference to your oral health.

Set a timer: many people don’t spend long enough cleaning their teeth, and setting a timer is an easy way to make sure you’re doing a thorough job. If you don’t have a brush with a timer, you can set an alarm on your phone or even brush along to a song.

Use fluoride toothpaste: fluoride is a mineral, which helps to protect the enamel and reduce the risk of decay. Using fluoride toothpaste can help to strengthen your teeth. When you’ve brushed, don’t rinse, as this will wash the fluoride away.

Brush gently: It’s understandable to assume that the harder you brush, the better the job. However, this isn’t the case when it comes to your teeth. If you brush too aggressively, you can wear away your tooth enamel, increasing the risk of sensitivity and cavities.

Floss: brushing is really important for good oral health, but you can’t possibly reach every part of your mouth with a toothbrush. Flossing is a way of targeting areas that can’t be cleaned with a brush, such as the cracks between your teeth. Try and floss once a day.

If you’re keen to keep your smile in tip-top condition, there are plenty of very simple steps you can take. Here are just 5 things you can do every day to keep your teeth looking terrific.

Brush your teeth twice a day: brushing is the best way to keep your mouth clean, and remove troublesome bacteria and bits of leftover food. Take 2 minutes every morning and evening to give your teeth a thorough clean.

Use fluoride toothpaste: fluoride is a mineral, which is proven to protect and strengthen the enamel. When you brush your teeth, use fluoride toothpaste, and don’t rinse immediately after brushing, as this will wash the fluoride away.

Floss: flossing daily helps to prevent plaque formation. When you brush, there are certain parts of the mouth, which you may not be able to reach. This is where flossing comes in handy. Use dental floss to clean the gum line, and the cracks between the teeth.

Drink plenty of water: drinking water has a host of health benefits, and it can be hugely beneficial for your mouth. Drinking water helps to prevent dry mouth, and it can also help you to wash away food debris and neutralise acids in your mouth after eating.

Chew sugar-free gum: chewing sugar-free gum for a couple of minutes after eating helps to reduce the risk of cavities. Chewing stimulates the release of saliva, and this helps to get rid of leftover food particles, cleanse the mouth, and reduce the potency of plaque acids.

If you have any more questions about keeping your teeth healthy, our dental team will be more than happy to help.

It’s well documented that dentists love the saying, ‘prevention is better than cure.’ It’s always better to prevent dental disease if possible. This saves you from unpleasant symptoms like swelling and tooth pain, keeps your smile looking good and reduces dental bills. The good news is that most dental diseases are preventable, and good oral hygiene will stand you in good stead for trouble-free teeth. Here are some simple hygiene tips that could make all the difference to your teeth and gums.

Brushing and flossing

It takes just a few minutes each day, but it could make the difference between losing your teeth and developing sore gums and having a healthy smile for years to come. Brushing is essential for good oral health because it prevents plaque formation. Plaque is a sticky film-like substance, which forms when saliva, food debris, and bacteria combine. Plaque sticks to the enamel, and it can also irritate the gums. When you brush, you dislodge food particles and bacteria. You also polish your teeth to prevent staining and give your smile that extra sparkle.

When you’re brushing at home, take care to do a thorough job, but be gentle. Brushing vigorously can damage the enamel. Use a brush with a small head, and angle the brush, so that you can clean along the gum line. Set a timer to ensure that you brush for 2 minutes each time. We recommend waiting an hour to brush after eating to avoid enamel erosion.

Flossing should never be used to replace brushing; it should be used in addition to cleaning your teeth. When you floss, don’t pull at the tape, as this can harm your gums. Gently guide the floss through the cracks in your teeth.

Seeing your dentist

If you have any questions about oral hygiene, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We are happy to offer tips and answer questions. We also strongly recommend regular check-ups, and annual sessions with the dental hygienist.

Bleeding gums, swelling and pain: these are all symptoms, which could be prevented with good oral hygiene and healthy eating. Gum disease is the biggest threat to adult oral health in the UK and we are on hand to help you keep those scary symptoms at bay.

Preventing gum disease

Gum disease is the most common cause of premature tooth loss; however, it can be prevented very easily. The best way of keeping your gums healthy is to adopt and maintain a good daily oral hygiene routine, which prevents the formation of plaque. Plaque is a sticky film which forms when saliva and food debris combines with bacteria; this is the most dangerous risk factor for gum disease and decay.

Daily brushing, morning and evening, and flossing help to keep the mouth clean and free from dangerous bacteria. Ideally, you should spend 2-3 minutes each morning and evening brushing your teeth, taking care to cover every surface of each individual tooth and brushing along the gum line. Avoid brushing too vigorously, as this could harm your tooth enamel and use a brush with soft bristles to avoid harming the gums.

Flossing is also really important for protecting against gum disease. Flossing removes plaque from the spaces between the teeth and the gum line, which are hard to clean with a brush. You only need to spend a couple of minutes flossing per day and this will make a massive difference to your oral health.

Diet and gum disease

Your diet also has a major impact on your oral health and avoiding certain foods helps to reduce your risk of gum disease; these foods include sugary and acidic products. Acidic foods damage the tooth enamel, while sugary foods cause bacteria to produce acids, which cause the gums to become irritated.

Far too many people in the United Kingdom suffer from gum disease and usually suffer in silence. The reasons for this are perhaps that people are more concerned about the state of their teeth or that some do not visit the dentist regularly enough where the experts can diagnose gum disease. But gum disease is worth taking seriously, if not for the fact that it can be rather painful and inconvenient even in its early stages, but also because it leads to more cases of tooth loss than actual dental decay does.
Many patients want to know exactly what they can do to put a stop to gum disease (professionally known as gingivitis in its early stages) or at least relieve the symptoms. Usually dentists will tell their patients that gum disease is easily dealt with by changing the way that they take care of their teeth. Sometimes patients are advised to use an electric tooth brush because it removes more plaque, sometimes patients are told that they need to floss with greater dedication. Certain mouth washes are available too which have been clinically formulated to deal with gingivitis.
In terms of relieving the symptoms, there are herbal remedies which can help patients. Herbal remedies are a controversial issue for some, with a number of people believing that they simply don’t work. But many independent studies have shown that substances like Echinacea, garlic and cloves can actually reduce the swelling and redness that comes with gum disease. It is always best to seek advice from your Leeds dentist before your pursue any home treatment as some of these can actually be rather abrasive on the teeth, but it is always worth keeping an open mind.

Every dentist surgery has a dental hygiene nurse; their job is to advise you on the best ways to prevent dental problems. Yet, not many patients actually ask their advice says a Leeds dentist. Oral Hygiene is the most important job we perform each day, if carried out properly then it will keep infections and bad breath away. It will also save us time in the dentist chair and money. There are 24 hours in a day and for the whole of that time out mouths are a hive of activity, most of it working against our teeth. At night our saliva gland sleeps when we sleep, saliva not only helps us swallow food, it also neutralises oral acid that is produced when bad bacteria feeds off fat and sugary debris that is trapped in between our teeth. Throughout the day that bacteria is feeding and producing acid that wears down the enamel on our teeth, so it is important we keep our mouths clean and watered all day and night. Tartar is a by-product of this process and is generally removed when we have our 6 monthly check ups, but in between visits it is eating away at our teeth. Before we brush we need to floss the teeth, this will loosen up the debris and any residue that is left from the night time. Then a vigorous brushing will loosen more, and finally a good rinse will remove the final bits. Throughout the day you can keep acid down by constantly swigging just plain water.